Sun., Dec. 11, 2016
10:00 AM
- 1:00 PM ESTLive Redskins PreGame Show with Kevin Sheehan and John RigginsKevin Sheehan gets the action started at 10am with the Official Redskins Radio Pregame Show presented by Koch – three hours of expert analysis, coaches interviews, key matchups, NFC East Game Day Previews, fantasy football updates and more!

Plus, this year Hall of Fame running back John Riggins will join Kevin in the broadcast booth during the final 90 minutes of the show, giving fans unparalleled pregame analysis for every Redskins game right up to kickoff.

Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

Flickr Photos

When Chris Cooley trotted out of the tunnel on Sunday, his injured knee finally felt great. Maybe not 100 percent, but good enough to play, and that’s all that he needed.

“I’m not willing to miss time for this team or sit out,” Cooley said after the game on Monday. “I made a huge commitment to getting better and doing everything that I could on my part. I was so pleased with what I was able to do in the game yesterday.”

And he should.

In just his 104th career game, Cooley snagged his Redskins record-tying and record-breaking receptions for a Redskins tight end. His 422 career-receptions surpasses the great Jerry Smith of the 1960s and 70’s, and he is only one reception away from passing Bob Tucker and Jay Novacek for 20th all-time in the NFL.

All of this for a player who could not practice in the training camp, could not play in the preseason games, and reported to the media that team doctors thought he could be out until “Week 3 or 4.”

“To be on the field at all was a big accomplishment for me,” Cooley said, cracking a smile. “And for only practicing one day in this preseason, really, I played really well.”

Cooley finished the day on Sunday with two grabs for 21 yards, both coming on scoring drives by the Redskins. Unless you knew the struggles of his preseason, he looked like the familiar No. 47 on the gridiron.

But Sunday wasn’t about Cooley, and he wasn’t going to put personal accomplishments over a big team win.

“I know a lot of guys are saying this, and it’s still early, but there something special happening in our locker room right now,” he said. “And I’m not willing to not be a part of that.”

At the beginning of the fourth quarter on Sunday, the Giants went three-and-out, and were forced to punt from their own 5-yard line.

Standing on just the other side of midfield was Redskins returner Brandon Banks, waiting for the punt. Giants punter Steve Weatherford boomed it from his own endzone, but it was short and directionally kicked away from Banks.

What ensued was a confusing exchange where Niles Paul fielded the punt cleanly, ran into Brandon Banks, ran laterally along the Giants 42, and ended up with no gain.

Official NFL stat line: one return, zero yards.

Paul attributed the play to miscommunication after the game.

“We were practicing all week where if it was deep, I was blocking, and if it was short, I was return man, y’know, if Banks can’t get under it,” he said.

Too bad for him, this punt fell under “Option C: In Between.” Read more »

Check out the highlight video of the five rookie performances, and you will see that Kerrigan’s is vastly superior. They also include the radio call of the play by Larry Michael and Sonny Jurgensen, which is pretty cool to hear.

With 1:57 left in the first quarter, the Redskins offense took over the ball at the 34-yard line. Quarterback Rex Grossman lined up under center, received the snap, and dropped back to find his open man.

Cutting across the middle of the field was a familiar read: wide receiver Jabar Gaffney, who made the catch for an 11-yard gain. First down at the Redskins 45.

That particular play kicked off the first scoring drive for the Redskins, and otherwise didn’t bear that much significance in the game. But it served as a reconnection between quarterback and receiver, after a decade of separation

From 2000-01, the pair were part of the Florida Gators dynamic passing attack, and connected on hundreds of passes for in those two years. Both were rising stars in the college ranks, so much so that Gaffney left school for the NFL after his sophomore season, drafted by the Houston Texans in the second round of the 2002 draft.

Grossman hung around Gainesville for another year, before going in the first round to the Chicago Bears in 2003. But before leaving college, they had some pretty good times there:

Following a team’s regular season victory, there’s a tradition in the NFL to allow players the next day off. This is referred to as “Victory Monday,” and is a tradition that began in Denver in the 90’s under head coach Mike Shanahan.

However, coaches and players were on the same page after Sunday’s victory, and agreed that there was too much work to be done to skip a day of preparation

Shanahan explained his take on the situation at yesterday’s press conference:

“We weren’t going to have Victory Monday,” he said. “I thought we had to come in here and take a look at film–not in the detail that we normally do after a loss–but I thought we needed to look at the film.”

Shanahan’s decision to get back to work was made easier by a veteran presence in the locker room that wanted to work.

“I think London [Fletcher] said it best: ‘Hey, we need to go to work and work on the little things to win the football game.’ There are a bunch of things to improve. We looked at that film – special teams, offense and defense. Now, we come back Wednesday and we’re ready to go.”

It’s no surprise that Fletcher made the call. As the defensive captain and undisputed team leader, Fletcher already had the approval of his teammates to speak up. This did not go unnoticed by Shanahan:

“I’m very impressed because they [took Monday off] last year,” he said. “A lot of times veterans will look back to last year, and I thought back about me doing it last year, and I thought it was too early. That’s why I had given it some thought, but I didn’t talk to the players about it. I was going to talk to the players after the game, but with the type of emotion that was involved, I thought it was the right time to talk about it. When London said that, it made it a whole lot easier.”

Players in the Redskins locker room were not only unfazed at the extra day of rest–they were excited.

Fullback Darrel Young:

“Nah, I’m glad, I’m glad. That’s the different mindset that this team has, and that was the best thing I’ve heard all season so far, and we didn’t want Monday off. Y’know, London has a ring, but he wants another one, and being behind a leader like that? This is where I wanna be.”

Defensive end Stephen Bowen:

“To me, I thought we had to come in. It’s the first game of the year and too early to be getting victory Mondays. We have a lot of work still to do. I mean, we’re not perfect, no one’s perfect, and me personally, I wanted to come in and look at the mistakes. We enjoyed the win, yesterday and today, but after that you’ve gotta put it out of your mind and move on to Arizona.”

Looking back at Sunday’s team win, it would appear that the only logical choice for the game ball recipient is general manager Bruce Allen. In two offseasons, Allen has replenished this roster with gamers: the people that will go out and play as a unit, give credit to the unit, and grow in the unit.

It would be an understatement to say that this quality has been lacking in the locker room in recent years. At points over the last few years, watching the Redskins talk about themselves reminded me of an old Budweiser ad from a few years ago:

Too many Leons in one place.

But these are some of the comments from after the game on Sunday evening. All-in-all, pretty telling stuff:

Quarterback Rex Grossman:

“We trust Coach Shanahan with everything. All the guys in the locker room love playing for him, respect him and believe that that coaching staff is going to put us in the best position to win. We’re a team and our huddle was positive throughout the whole day.”